Churches, others dream big to help homeless

Area homeless people only have a network of small agencies to turn to, and advocates argue it's time to try something new.

EILEEN ZAFFIRO-KEANSTAFF WRITER

A year ago, an annual count of the homeless found about 2,400 people in Volusia and Flagler counties without a reliable roof over their heads. That yearly census got started Tuesday, and when the results are tallied the total is expected to climb even higher, as it steadily has for the past several years. With fewer than 800 beds available in local shelters and transitional housing, the urgency to do something isn't lost on big-hearted people paying attention to the yawning gap between need and resources. For six years, Michael Arth of DeLand has been pitching the idea of creating a homeless village on a large swath of county-owned property on the western outskirts of Daytona Beach. There, people could get a free place to stay for a few years and an array of help to get their lives back on track. Calvary Christian Center Pastor Jim Raley in Ormond Beach has had an even grander vision over the past decade: to create a complex for all kinds of people in need, from the homeless to abuse victims to single pregnant women teetering on the edge of financial disaster. And a small grass-roots relief agency, the Daytona Outreach Center, has been developing an idea the past few years to use 20-40 acres of donated land to start a farm where the homeless could escape the circumstances that make it harder to fight addictions and get off the streets and gradually rebuild their lives.

'WE'RE AT A STALEMATE'

All three efforts are led by people brimming with dreams and faith but, so far anyway, nearly bereft of land and the necessary cash. But they're all still pushing to see what they can make happen. Area homeless people only have a network of small agencies to turn to, and Arth argues it's time to try something new. "We keep attacking the problem in the same way and we're not getting any results," Arth said. He doesn't see hope for local agencies pooling their resources to try something bigger. "We're at a stalemate now because agencies just fear for their own survival," Arth said. Lisa Hamilton, executive director of the Volusia Flagler County Coalition for the Homeless, said it's harder to get funding for large-scale facilities, and research shows people recover faster and better in smaller facilities. But she welcomes any new agencies that want to join in the battle against homelessness. "It's very important to have new hands to help," she said. "Our collaborative is open to everyone. You can't do it without helping each other. I think we're in an economy that's going to force us to work more closely together." If any of the agencies are able to raise enough money to start new help centers, they'll have to locate somewhere at least slightly removed from the areas where homeless people tend to cluster. Most of Volusia County's homeless are concentrated in the areas of Daytona Beach where the city has imposed a ban on opening any new social service agencies.

'A PLACE TO GO'

The effort at Calvary Christian Center, a large complex on Granada Boulevard just west of Interstate 95, is being led by two of the church's outreach pastors, Shirley Tellis and Jennifer Woods. For the past few years, they've been looking for a local building large enough to house their vision of a faith-based place that would welcome people coming out of jail, addicts, families that have fallen on hard times, teenage runaways and a host of others with no place to go. "When we evangelize in clubs, in prison, everywhere, we hear that so much, 'If we only had a place to go,' " Tellis said. They already help people with food, clothing and showers from their church base and a small operation on U.S. 1, but they'd like a new building focused on rescuing those in need. "It would be very comprehensive, a structured environment where God is the center and God is the answer," Woods said. They had their hearts set on the old Atlantic Medical Center building at the corner of Clyde Morris Boulevard and Dunn Avenue, which is about to meet a wrecking ball. "We were devastated when we heard they wanted to demolish it," Woods said. So they'll keep looking for another building, and adding to the $35,000 they've raised so far. "Without a doubt it'll happen," Tellis said. "If it's God's vision, he'll provide for it." Arth has almost given up a couple of times on his idea for a secular homeless village for adults, but with a few new people on the Volusia County Council he has renewed hope he could get four votes in favor of donating the 80 acres of land near the county jail that he's had his eye on. Too many people are wasting away in prisons and in the woods, and they need a place that "gives them hope and a purpose," he said. He hopes one or two local agencies change their minds and join forces with him. The site on Red John Road he wants is already zoned for group homes; it's near a rehabilitation facility; and it's on a bus line, he points out. "It's really the only place that's suitable," he said. "There is no better spot."

'IT'S AN UPHILL DEAL'

Ray Kelley, who fought back from addiction and started the Daytona Outreach Center on Ridgewood Avenue six years ago, has been circling around an idea similar to Arth's the past four years. Kelley also hopes to get some rural land donated where the homeless would come voluntarily to put their lives back together, but the twist on his idea is he'd like to have a farm residents would help run. The pastor also envisions a faith-based place where people would have access to doctors and dentists and take classes to help with job hunting while they get clean and sober. He realizes it will be difficult to make it happen. But he thinks about a former airline pilot he has seen homeless on the streets of Daytona. "With some love you can get them back to what they were," he said. The existing operations, meanwhile, will keep helping the homeless as best they can. Hamilton said people found during this week's count of the homeless will be entered into a database and targeted for help with housing. If any of the efforts to open large facilities work, Hamilton said, "we'd welcome them and help them as much as we can." She'll watch to see how their dreams evolve. "All agencies started with a group of people saying something needs to be done," she said. "That's how it starts."

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